WBI Founders

Our 20 Year Record

From June 1997 until the present, the Namies have led the first and only U.S. organization dedicated to the eradication of workplace bullying that combines help for individuals via our websites & over 12,000 consultations, telephone coaching, conducting & popularizing scientific research, authoring books, producing education DVDs, leading training for professionals-unions-employers, coordinating national legislative advocacy, and providing consulting solutions for organizations.

Everyone already knows of the common stereotype, how bullies pick on the weakest kid on the playground. It is often used to justify the act of bullying itself, like a form of social Darwinism that makes it okay to commit acts of assault on another person. The Workplace Bullying Institute has found in its research that workplace bullies actually target the strongest, most capable employees. Particularly the ones who represent a threat to an incompetent manager’s own job. But a new CNN study shows this is also true of schoolyard bullies in their quest for social dominance.

This begs the question: do these kids grow up to be workplace bullies, or does the workplace make its own class of bullies? Tell us what you think in the comments section.

New York (CNN) — A new study commissioned by CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” found that the stereotype of the schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn’t reflect reality in schools.

Instead, the research shows that many students are involved in “social combat” — a constant verbal, physical and cyber fight to the top of the school social hierarchy.